


Fate threw us a punch - A Christmas Miracle Tale

by Patelecti



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alpha Mark Lee (NCT), Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Christmas Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Future Fic, Implied Mpreg, M/M, Mentions of Praying and Religion, Omega Nakamoto Yuta, Time Travel, mentions of bullying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:27:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28259181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Patelecti/pseuds/Patelecti
Summary: Mark prayed for a Christmas miracle, because they say it really happens sometimes.But what he wasn't expecting was travelling 17 years in the future to meet his pack and sort out his insecurities.
Relationships: Mark Lee/Nakamoto Yuta
Comments: 12
Kudos: 149





	Fate threw us a punch - A Christmas Miracle Tale

Mark didn’t really understand why people must have this _second gender_ thing. As if it wasn’t already hard enough to grow up always trying to be their best in everything, everyone also have to deal with the responsibility of what the secondary gender brings to them for their entire lives.

As far as Mark had learnt at school, while Betas didn’t have any special responsibility or instinctual influences from their second genders, Omegas were the ones who suffered the most and were very discriminated while the Alphas were idolatraded and often had the easiest life. 

And, although it wasn’t fair, Mark also knew that there was anything he could do to change it. Society did it to them ages ago, and all Alphas, Betas and Omegas learned how to adapt. 

But the problem was when, on December 20th that year - the mandatory day of the year that all 14 year old kids would get tested - he couldn’t help but feel down when the results came and he ended up as an Alpha.

Not that this was a surprise, with his father and brother being Alphas too, but a big part of him had hoped, and even prayed that he would end up as a Beta. Unlike his father and brother, Mark didn’t feel like he could be a powerful leader as most Alphas were portrayed - much the opposite; he felt like he was too weak. Even the kids at school made fun of him often, for not speaking up when he needed to, for being too shy, too awkward. 

They were probably going to make fun of him when they realized that he was a pathetic Alpha, too, when they were back from winter break. 

And that thought, that fear, was what was keeping Mark from enjoying the Holidays with his family. 

Of course both his parents were delighted with the news that both their sons were Alphas and had a bright future, but Mark couldn’t see himself like this. 

He couldn’t see himself as a leader. He couldn’t see himself taking care of a pack when he couldn’t even shout back to the kids that made fun of him. Not when he was a 14 years scrawny Alpha who wore braces and knew nothing about life and didn’t even _want_ that much responsibility. Didn’t even want that much expectations on him.

So on Christmas eve, after everyone on his house had already gone to bed and there was no single sound to disturb him, Mark kneeled in front of his bed, clasped his hands together and prayed the hardest he had ever done in his entire life - prayed to wake up the next day and realize that the past few days were nothing more than a nightmare, prayed to go back in time and find out that he was in fact a Beta, prayed for, if none of that works, someone in the future to find a way to change their secondary gender and he could turn into a Beta, or something. He prayed so that no one would find out about his results back at school and make fun of him. He prayed that people figure out he was a Beta and he would pretend he was one till he could actually live like one.

He prayed for his parents to forgive him about it, and prayed for _God_ to forgive him for not accepting his own fate. 

He prayed for a Christmas miracle, because they say it really happens sometimes. 

Mark didn’t know how much time he spent praying, but when he opened his eyes he realized his face was wet with tears he didn’t know he had let out. 

As he laid down on his bed moments later and tucked himself in, he wished one more time that his prayers could be heard. That this Christmas could make all the difference. That he could wake up as another person, without all those worries. 

He stared and stared at the ceiling till he fell asleep.

❄❄❄

When Mark woke up it was still dark, but he wasn't at his room, even less at his bed. 

He was lying down curled on his side in an open field, the cold grass tickling his face and the arm he was using to support his head. 

Surprised, he sat up as fast as he could and looked around with his heart slamming against his chest, trying to understand how in the hell he got there in the first place, and where he was. He looked at his body to check himself from any injuries and didn’t find anything besides finding out that he was still wearing the same PJs and socks he went to bed that night. The only light illuminating him was the full moon, shining bright at the sky and as he looked up, Mark realized that he could see more stars than he had ever had in his whole life. 

Slowly getting up on his feet, Mark looked around the open field he was in. The grass was not that high - it barely reached his ankles - and somewhere not far in the distance Mark saw what looked like a classic farmhouse with their lights on, so he decided to walk towards it and, maybe, ask for help. 

As he walked, he debated with himself if he was dreaming or not. He probably was, because he wasn’t wearing shoes and he had read somewhere once that people never wear shoes in their dreams. Also, there was no way he could’ve sleep-walked there, first because he had never done this and second because it was snowing back at home, so even if he was walking around asleep like a zombie, it wouldn’t be in a nice weather like this one - he didn’t even feel cold wearing only his PJs outside. 

Too engrossed with his own thoughts, Mark didn't notice he was close to the house until he heard someone calling his name.

"Mark!" A man shouted.

Blinking and looking at the house in front of him, Mark saw two male figures in the front porch. One of them, the guy with long brown hair, was waving his hand excitedly at him while the other was just staring at him, but Mark couldn’t make much of their faces because of the lightning. 

Frowning, Mark stopped, suddenly cautious. His heart started racing again on his chest and a knot of fear formed on his stomach. 

Who were those men? How did they know his name? 

A few seconds passed as Mark watched both men at the front porch till the guy with the long hair, probably noticing his hesitation, suddenly got down the porch steps and sprinted into Mark’s direction. 

Mark’s first reaction was to run, too, but away from the man, however he was paralyzed with fear and the man was fast enough to catch up on him in seconds. As the guy approached in what felt like a slow motion moment, Mark noticed that he was much older and was wearing dark clothes, except for an open red flannel on top of his t-shirt. Mark registered a huge perfect teeth smile at the guy’s face before he was grabbed by his forearm. Mark tried to shout, but nothing came out of his mouth when the guy pulled him… To a bear-crashing hug. 

"Mark! You're here!" The guy said in midst of a laughter, but Mark couldn’t really register what happened before that because the moment he breathed, he was embraced with the best smell that he had ever felt.

It wasn't just a smell, it was a _scent_ , his dumb mind provided after a couple of seconds being engulfed by that, and Mark realized it came from the man that was hugging him. He couldn't pinpoint what exactly he was smelling, but it was so _good_ that he lost track of any words, thoughts or or actions. He wanted to _drown_ in that scent and never let go. He didn’t want anyone to ever smell that scent too, not even a sniff, because that was precious. He wanted it for _him_ and no one else. 

He wanted to rub his nose at some random guy’s chest till he had that scent imprinted on him and that thought was terrifying. 

Too overwhelmed with the moment, Mark didn’t realize that the other guy approached them too, till he cleared his throat besides him. 

"Yuta, let the boy go! You’re freaking him out!" The man said in a light tone and his voice sounded familiar, like his brother's, Mark noticed. Suddenly, the hug was broken and the man that now Mark knew was called Yuta let him go and took a step back. 

Now that Mark could finally breathe without feeling intoxicated by that amazing scent, even though he already missed it terribly, he raised his shaking hands and blinked once, twice, staring at them before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath to calm down.

A hand on his shoulder made him open his eyes again. "Hey buddy, you alright?"

The smallest amount that Mark managed to calm down during that deep breath hadn't prepared him for what happened next when he stared at the man.

Because the guy staring back at him was nothing less than an older version of himself. 

He was taller, looking mature with a neat haircut and golden spectacles but still looking like Mark’s twin older brother. 

" _W-what the hell_ ?" Mark shrieked. He took a step back, taking the man’s hand out of his shoulder. "Who the _fuck_ are you? What the _fuck_ is happening?" 

Swearing was wrong and he was forbidden by his parents to do this till he was, like, forty, but he couldn’t help himself. 

Both Yuta and the guy who looked like him laughed at his reaction, but there was no malice on it and they didn’t seem surprised or mad. "You know that you’re forbidden to swear till you reach the forties, right?" The guy asked and Mark widened his eyes. 

" _What_?" Mark gasped. Did the guy just read his thoughts now? 

Shaking his head, the guy laughed again. "And no, I didn’t read your mind if that’s what you’re thinking about." He made a gesture towards the house. "Let’s get inside and I’ll explain everything. We were waiting for you."

Mark glanced from the guy to Yuta, and then to the guy again, frowning as he breathed to calm down, trying to remind himself that this was a dream, so there was nothing to be worried about. Maximum he could reason it could happen was waking up and being traumatized for life, so he decided to give it a shot. 

But before he nodded, he looked down at both guys' feet. 

They were wearing shoes. 

"Shit," Mark couldn’t help but curse agan. "Am I dreaming or not?" 

He asked no one in particular, but it was the guy that looked like him who answered. "I don’t think so, dude. We’re pretty much awake right now."

That finding made a shiver run down Mark's spine. If he was not dreaming, where was he?

Maybe in a parallel universe? 

"You’re in the future, by the way." The guy who looked like him said out of the blue and Mark's eyes widened again. 

"I’m _where_?" 

The guy chuckled, but before he could say anything, Yuta cut him off, rolling his eyes. "C’mon kid, let’s get inside and then we’ll answer all the questions." He grabbed Mark by the arm again, this time to drag him towards the house and Mark, too dumbfounded with the amount of information he just got, plus Yuta’s scent filling his nose again, just went ahead. 

"Gosh Yuta, have some pity on the kid!" Mark heard the other guy (his future self, maybe?) complain on his other side but didn’t say anything as they soon got to the front porch. Yuta left his arm as soon as they approached the front door to open it and he was rushed inside the house. 

"Wear this," Yuta said as soon as he stepped inside the entrance, and handed him a pair of slippers as he and the other guy took their shoes off in a second and guided him to the living room.

It all happened very quickly, but as soon as Mark got inside the house, he was once again overwhelmed by the smell of it; not only because it had Yuta's scent in the background, but his scent was mixed with something familiar to Mark, something so comforting that made his heart flutter on his chest for some reason. He felt at home, even though he was at that place for the very first time in his life. 

Looking around, Mark noticed that the place was a mess, if he was honest - not the disgusting kind of mess, but the kind that it made very clear that the house was lived in; there wasn't a single surface without an object, a toy, a book or even a gadget that looked like a futuristic version of a laptop in that living room.

"Dude, please don’t mind the mess." The guy that Mark was pretty sure now was his future version said, and his voice brought Mark back to the present as he was pushed towards the couch. "Take a seat, c’mon." 

Doing as he was told, he sat on the couch - which was very comfortable, actually - and stared awkwardly at both men. Yuta took a seat on a chair by his left side and the other dude sat down on the coffee table, right in front of him. 

"You good, dude?" The man asked, raising his eyebrows and Mark nodded, watching him. Now that they were under a better light he was able to notice the smaller details on the guys face, like the stubble on his chin (he still didn’t need to shave, so he was jealous) and the more slender face without the baby fat cheeks Mark stared at in the mirror every single day. The guy was wearing a black t-shirt and brown cargo shorts. His shoulders were broad, he looked far more muscular than Mark was now with his thin arms (not that the guy _was_ muscular, but it was better than Mark’s current stage) and the serious face the guy had while stared at him screamed one thing: Alpha.

Suddenly uncomfortable, Mark cleared his throat. "Uh," He said, throwing a quick glance at Yuta too. "I don't wanna be rude or something but _who are you_?" 

The man chuckled. "What? Can't you recognize me?"

Mark blinked a couple of times and looked at the guy up and down before answering. "You... You look like me?" 

"Exactly." The guy said, nodding. "I look like you, Mark, because I'm you. Just, like, older."

"Much older." Yuta added and older-Mark threw him a glare. 

"O...Kay." Mark breathed. He had pretty much figured this out by himself when the guy said he was from the future, but hearing that the guy was, in fact, from the future freaked him out. "Is this a prank?" 

"No," Future-Mark shook his head. "It's not a prank. It’s happening for you now the same way it happened to me when I was your age." He shrugged. 

"But…" Mark started, and then stopped. He had so many questions that he didn’t know from where to start. "How… How did I end up here? _Shit_ , am I going to disappear now that I met you?"

Both Future-Mark and Yuta chuckled at that and Mark glanced at both, like he was in a tennis match. "No, dude, don’t worry. You’re fine." Future-Mark said. "As I said, I've already gone through this and I'm here, see? I knew that you were going to show up. I knew you were going to think I was reading your mind, also.” He chuckled. “And I know you're terrified, but you don't need to be, dude. Chill."

Mark looked down at his lap with Future-Mark’s words, trying to comprehend everything that was happening. "But… I don’t understand." He muttered, and didn’t realize Yuta had moved to the couch till he saw one of his hands touch his leg, pulling him out of his thoughts. This time, when he took a breath, he could feel that Yuta’s scent was stronger again, but something on it was different and made him calmer almost instantaneously. 

"We know you don’t understand." Yuta said and Mark turned to stare at him. "But you will in a couple of years." 

Nodding, Mark turned back to Future-Mark, who also agreed with a gesture. 

"Do you know why I was sent to the future?" Mark asked then. 

"What were you doing before you went to bed last night, Mark?" Future-Mark asked, making him frown. 

It wasn’t difficult to remember what he was doing before going to bed, not after the amount of pleading he made on his prayers. "I was… Praying." 

"Yeah." Future-Mark said. "What were you asking?"

The question made Mark’s stomach drop and he could feel his ears and cheeks getting hot. "I…" He looked quickly at Yuta, embarrassed, and then stared at his own lap again. Yuta’s hand was still there, so he focused on that. "I was asking to not be an Alpha. I’m not born for this. I’ll never be a good Alpha so I thought if… If I prayed enough, asked enough, God would help me."

There was a moment of silence in which Mark didn’t dare to look up at Future-Mark, too ashamed for it. "Mark," Future-Mark spoke after a while. "Now that you’re seeing me… What do you think happened to you? Do you think God turned you into a Beta, like you were asking?" 

Another pang fell on Mark’s stomach with Future-Mark’s words, and he shook his head. "No." He replied, but still didn’t look up and Yuta turned his hand on his lap, palm facing up, as if inviting Mark to hold it. He hesitated. "You look like you’re still an Alpha." Biting his own lower lip, Mark shyly covered Yuta’s hand with his own and Yuta gave his hand a tight squeeze. "But I can’t smell your Alpha scent, tho." 

"Yeah, I know. You can't smell it because it's _your_ scent, and you're too used to it." Future-Mark said. "Can you smell him?"

Finally raising his head to look at Future-Mark, Mark noticed he was pointing towards Yuta and Mark nodded, shyly. "Y-yeah. His scent is..."

"The best scent you'll ever smell." Future-Mark said and both he and Yuta chuckled at that. 

If Mark was feeling embarrassed earlier, now he just wanted to hide under a rock, specially because he knew he was probably looking like a tomato and Yuta was right by his side, holding his hand. 

Future-Mark, the dickface, just laughed at him. "It’s okay to admit that, dude!"

Blushing furiously, Mark decided to look anywhere but the two men in the living room. "But… Why? I mean, is it normal? I don’t… Really get it." 

"It’s okay Mark," Yuta said. "It’s because I'm an omega, and I'm your fated pair."

Mark choked. _"What?"_

Both Future-Mark and Yuta chuckled as Mark’s head turned to them as quick as sound and he widened his eyes. "Yeah, Mark." Future-Mark said. "You're an alpha and you got yourself an omega mate. He was a bit of trouble in the beginning but you guys made it work."

Mark watched as Yuta made a face as Future-Mark words. "But... How? I... I…" He took a deep breath, trying to not freak out too much. Yuta squeezed his hand again, and more of his scent filled Mark’s nose. 

"Hey kid, calm down. It’s okay." Yuta’s soothing voice reached his ears almost at the same time and Mark started to calm down. "Tell us how you’re feeling." 

Gulping, Mark stared back at his lap. "I… I don't feel like an alpha." He confessed. "I don't... I Don’t think… I won’t be able to take care of a pack." Biting his own lower lip, Mark shook his head. "I'm not like my father or my brother. I’m..." 

He felt hands being placed on his shoulders and raised his head to see Future-Mark bending down in front of him. "Mark, listen to me." He said. "You're an Alpha, as much as them. I know it's hurting now. I know you don’t feel like it. I know people don’t let you feel like it, but you’re an Alpha, and you have to trust in yourself.” Future-Mark gave him a few pats on his right shoulder. “You’ll be a good Alpha, man. Look at me, dude! I made it, didn't I?" The guy smiled at him, and Mark felt tears pricking on his eyes. 

Nodding, Mark raised his hand to dry the corner of his eyes with his PJ’s sleeve. "But-"

"Also," Yuta interrupted. It caught Mark by surprise and both he and Future-Mark turned to the man as he spoke. "You have something that the others Alphas don't have, Mark." Yuta shrugged. "You're caring. You pay attention to others feelings. You're sensitive. None of the Alphas are like this, which often makes them a bunch of assoholes. But you're different, Markie." Yuta gave him a full, warm smile. "You're really special."

That smile made Mark’s heart race on his chest and he was pretty sure he was blushing again, but the moment was cut by Future-Mark nudging his shoulder. "Dude, stop having a crush on my Yuta! You’ll have yours when your time comes!" 

Both Yuta and Future-Mark laughed at that and Mark’s eyes got impossible huge, face beat red with embarrassment and he quickly removed his hand from Yuta’s. "S-sorry. I’m not! That’s not it!" He hushed to say, stuttering, and both men laughed again. 

“It’s okay, dude, I’m kidding.” Future-Mark said and finally got up to sit back at the coffee table. 

It took a few seconds for Mark to calm down from all that embarrassment, but when he did, a thought occurred to him. "But…" He started, but hesitated. Both Yuta and Future-Mark stared at him, and Future-Mark urged him to go on. "What if I fail... What if I'm not an Alpha enough for... What If I... I'm…” He shook his head. “I'm afraid to fail as an Alpha." Mark confessed. "I'm afraid to fail with my parents, and with my mate. I heard at school last week that Omegas are really dependable on u-us."

"Uh, not really?" Future-Mark said, and Mark raised his head again to watch him. "I mean, we, as Alphas, need to be emotionally stable to not affect our mates, but it’s not like they’re dependable on us."

"And also," Yuta said. "You need to be emotionally stable for any relationship to work out." He nudged Mark a bit. "And you never failed me. You'll be an amazing Alpha and you will be the one to show me that Alphas can be amazing, too." 

Mark blinked a couple of times. "R-really?" Yuta nodded, flashing him another smile and Mark looked back at Future-Mark. "And how did you do this?" 

Future Mark shook his head, smiling too. "That's for you to find out. But this encounter is to show you that whichever fears you have, you don't need to. You asked for a Christmas miracle and Christmas’ spirit brought you here to show you that you can make it. God brought you here to show you that there’s no need to worry. You'll be a successful Alpha, head of a pack and everything." 

Mark’s eyes widened with Future-Mark’s words, but he didn’t say anything. Head of a pack. A couple of hours ago it looked so impossible for him. But now Mark was in the future, staring at his older self and his Omega mate, who was his fated pair on top of that - which he heard was one of the rarest things to find - and Future-Mark was being successful taking care of him. Of his pack. 

It was still hard to believe that him, one day, was going to succeed as an Alpha.

"Can I do it already?" Yuta's voice cut his thoughts and Mark frowned as he saw Future-Mark nodding. Smiling, Yuta got up from the couch and made a gesture for Mark to follow him. "C'mon, I have something to show you!" 

Confused but curious, he glanced at Future-Mark as if to ask permission and after Future-Mark agreed, Mark got up to follow Yuta. He was led to the staircase and then up. Yuta put a finger in front of his lips as soon as they got to the second floor. "Please try to be as quiet as possible, ok?"

Mark nodded, and followed Yuta down to the hall, till they stopped in front of a white closed door, similar to the others in the house and Mark watched as Yuta opened it carefully. He then switched the bedroom lights on, but in a low setting and made a gesture with his head, indicating for Mark to peek inside. Clueless but still curious, Mark did as he was told. 

The first thing that Mark noticed was that it was a kid's room, full of toys everywhere, and with cartoons all over the wallpaper. Now thinking back, he had noticed some toys in the living room, but didn’t make much out of it. Frowning, and still trying to figure out what Yuta wanted to show him, he looked at Yuta again who pointed at the bed. There, Mark could see two kids, a girl and a boy, snuggled together fast asleep. The girl looked obviously older, but Mark couldn't guess their ages since he didn't know much about kids. "I... Don't get it." He whispered as low as he could to Yuta, who just chuckled. 

"Try to smell them." Yuta whispered back.

Mark raised an eyebrow and stared at the kids once again before closing his eyes to focus, as he wasn't still used to actively searching for people's scent. Mark then took a deep breath, smelling the room and the kids' scent as much as he could. Their scents were surprisingly good, in a way that calmed Mark and filled his heart with warmth, in a similar way that Yuta's scent did and the house smelled, but way more stronger, way more intimate. 

And it took him a moment but then it finally clicked.

They smelled like _kin_.

The realization made Mark gasp and he covered his mouth with one hand as soon as he did, trying his best to not make any other loud noise. " _Holy sh-_ "

"No cussing near the kids." Yuta cut him with a chuckle. "Your rules." 

Blinking and with his head now spinning, he turned to look at the kids again, and now he could _see it_ . How the girl had his eyebrows and Yuta's nose and lips. How the boy had Yuta's nose too, but the rest of his face was like a carbon-copy of Mark's. "Are they _really?_ " Mark asked, voice barely above a whisper and Yuta nodded. 

"Of course they're ours!" Yuta rolled his eyes. "Oh, and we're not having more than two. Tell this to my future self, please, no matter what I say." 

Mark couldn’t help but chuckle at that and Yuta motioned to the staircase again. "Let's go back downstairs before they wake up."

Nodding, Mark took a final look at the sleeping kids before Yuta closed the door and followed him downstairs. They found Future-Mark putting three mugs of tea on the coffee table and Mark went back to the place he was sitting before. 

"So," Future-Mark asked, handing Mark a mug of tea. "What did you think?"

"We…" Mark accepted it with slightly shaky hands. "We really have a pack? Like, a full one?" 

Future Mark nodded, giving Mark the largest smile he had so far. "Yeah, dude! They're like, the best thing that will ever happen to you, really!"

"Hey!" From the same chair he was sitting before, Yuta complained, also holding a mug. "Include me on this fucking list! I didn't carry two kids around for them to get all the credits!" 

That made both Marks chuckle. "Ok, him too." Future-Mark said, shrugging, and sat down at the coffee table again with his own mug. "But... Can you see it now? I'm happy. You'll be happy in the future. There's no worry, dude. You’ll be an awesome Alpha." 

But… What if something different happens and I change the future?" Mark asked before taking a sip of his tea, making Future-Mark frown a bit.

"Dang… That’s a good question, actually. But I don’t think it’ll happen, tho? Like, it's not likely to happen, I guess." He shrugged. "I already lived what you are living, remember? I asked the same questions and here I am."

Mark nodded, still clutching at his mug. "O...Kay." He took a deep breath. "Is there anything else I need to know?" 

From behind his mug, Future-Mark tilted his head to the side. "Oh, actually there’s something." He said. "When you wake up tomorrow, sit down with your parents and ask to move to another school."

Mark’s eyes widened. "No! I can’t!"

"Of course you can, Mark." Future-Mark replied, seriously. "You’re being bullied. Talk to them about it, they will understand and you’ll move to another school. It will be great, trust me. You’ll finally make great friends." 

Mark sighed, lowering his gaze to the mug on his hands, still speechless. Hearing that he was getting bullied from someone else, from his future self, made it all seem much more real. 

"Also, just in case something happens..." Yuta jumped in the conversation. "When you meet me, just tell me that we'll have a beautiful girl called Hana. That will do it." 

Mark raised his head and blinked a couple of times. "Wait, you'll fall for me if I tell you _that_ ? What the _hell_?" 

Yuta laughed and winked at him. "You'll see."

Frowning, Mark looked at Future-Mark who just shrugged. "Don’t look at me, he thought we were weird enough and it actually worked." 

That made Mark actually chuckle and he took another sip of his tea, reaching almost half of it. Suddenly his eyes got really heavy and he couldn’t help but yawn.

"You're starting to be sleepy, aren't you?" Future-Mark asked, and Mark nodded. "I thought as much. Well, it means that it’s time for us to say good-bye." He picked up the mug from Mark’s hand - which he was glad, because he was starting to get so sleepy that holding it was becoming a hard task. "We’ll give you some blankets and a pillow for you to sleep. You'll probably wake up in your bed in a couple of hours."

"Oh… Okay." Mark tried to blink himself away. "Is... Is... this it? No more advice?"

"Not really, I don't really want to spoil your future too much." Future-Mark shrugged, smiling. Yuta had returned from somewhere Mark didn’t even realize he went and handed Future-Mark a fluffy blanket and a pillow. Future-Mark arranged it next to Mark on the couch and patted on the pillow for him to lay down a couple of seconds later. 

As his head hit the pillow, Mark finally remembered to ask. "Hey, uh… How old are you now?" 

Covering him with the blankets, Future-Mark smiled. "I'm 31 now. Our kids are 7 and 4. Yuta is 35, like, super old already." 

"Hey!" Yuta complained out loud and Mark chuckled. 

Future-Mark smiled at him, finishing tucking him on the blankets. "It was nice to see you, buddy. Take care of my past for me, huh?"

Mark nodded, and smiled at him too, braces showing and everything. "T-thanks." He said. Suddenly his eyes got a bit wet again, and he tried to blink the tears away. "Thanks for being an awesome Alpha too." 

Future-Mark laughed. "C’mon, man! That's all on you." He caressed Mark’s bangs. "Good night, dude."

"Good night, dude." Mark said, and was surprised when Future-Mark took a step back only for Yuta to approach him and give him a kiss on the forehead. "Good night, Markie." Yuta flashed another smile at him, even though Mark was probably looking like a tomato _again_. "Oh, and remember that I hate Dong-"

"Yuta!" Future-Mark cut him and dragged Yuta away from Mark. "Go to sleep, dude, you need to go back. Good night!"

Switching off the lights of the living room, both Future-Mark and Yuta left to go upstairs and Mark stared at the ceiling of the house for a while, mind still trying to process everything that happened. 

Then he took another quick look around, closed his eyes and inhaled his pack scent for the last time before falling asleep.

❄❄❄

**6 years later**

Mark was growing frustrated. 

It’s been six years since he had that weird Christmas dream where he met his future self, his mate and his future kids and, as much as he clung to the idea that that will be his future one day, as the time passed, he slowly started to lose hope that it would happen. That Yuta was real and that they would meet one day. 

After spending the first year after that dream being obsessed about finding Yuta, looking for him everywhere he went to the point that Mark started expecting to smell Yuta’s scent when he turned around a corner or something, Mark grew frustrated and sad when he realized that this, probably wasn’t happening anytime soon, if at all.

It wasn’t like he hadn’t tried. He did everything he could. He even looked for Yuta on social media, walked around random places in the city just for the chance to bump into him but nothing.

Six years passed so far, and _nothing happened_. 

Well, not really nothing. As instructed by Future-Mark, Mark sat down with his parents first thing on that Christmas morning to talk about school and, surprisingly, they in fact agreed with him moving to another one after Mark told them what was happening. And, as Future-Mark had said, that change was amazing for Mark’s life as he finally made friends, real ones, that he kept by his side till this day.

And now Mark was no longer that 14 years old kid that dreamed of meeting his future self. Now Mark was 20, and he could totally see that he was starting to look a lot more like future Mark. He had lost his baby fat, he now had a beard to shave (a nuisance that he regretted wishing for) and his muscles were still a work in progress, but at least he was working on building them. He had even bought himself a pair of golden spectacles when he joined University. 

After his first frustrated year trying to look for Yuta without success, Mark slowly started living his life instead of just waiting for that dream to come true. It wasn’t easy, because he really wanted that future life he was shown at his dream, and he tried his best to never forget any single moment of it, but he realized that he couldn’t waste his youth by holding onto a memory. 

And his new group of friends consisting of Jeno, Donghyuck, Jaemin and Renjun helped him through that. They helped him live a normal life - or as much normal as he could, with the expectations that an Alpha had, but now he could share his burden with Jeno, who was also an Alpha with the same feeling, or even the other boys who were Betas. They would listen and try to help. They would cheer the Alphas when needed, the same way the Alphas would take care of them if necessary. It took Mark a while to realize it, but at Mark’s graduation party (as he was a year older than the other boys) he realized that he had, along with Jeno, created a symbolic pack and he was very happy with that. 

Either way, he never shared the dream he had with his friends. It was his hidden secret and he never really gathered the courage to voice it out to anyone. Not even when puberty had hit them a couple of years ago and suddenly dating was everything the boys were talking about. Mark remembered even having a girlfriend at that time - as he was just too frustrated from not finding Yuta yet - but he soon realized he was just playing with another person’s feelings and wasn’t being fair, even though he genuinely liked her, so he decided to break up before Yuta would show up to complicate things. His friends didn’t really get his motives behind the break up, but still, Mark kept the reality away from them. He didn’t spoil it, he didn’t want to lose the chance of it happening because he told the future to someone else.

So now besides the casual hook ups when he’s feeling very lonely and that one time he first experimented with a guy - his best friend Donghyuck (they don’t really talk about it) - Mark remained single, hoping to find his mate, Yuta, sometime soon.

And this _soon_ happened on a random Thursday after basketball practice. Donghyuck and Jaemin did as much as drag him and Jeno to an undergrad's party at the University they were attending, not even letting them change from their practice shorts and hoodies, saying that everybody would be smelly by the end of the night anyway. Jaemin's words. 

Mark was sure he looked like a wreck as he had spent the last two nights awake to finish a project and was exhausted. Not to mention that he didn't bother brushing his hair to practice basketball and was thankful to have worn a cap to hide it. 

And that was one of the rare nights in those 6 years that Mark didn’t let himself think about Yuta, or his dream, or his future pack. Sometimes he felt like needed to put that barrier between him, the present Mark, and his future self, to appreciate and live the present but that night this thought didn’t even occur to him. The party was so noisy and he was so tired that the possibility of meeting the love of his life didn’t really cross his mind. Also, a fight that broke out of nowhere in the middle of the living room didn’t let him roam into his thoughts at all, as he people started rushing by him to see what was happening. 

As pretty much as everyone else, Mark and his friends shared a quick look between them before going to the living room too. Mark expected to help calming things down with Jeno, as both were Alphas and usually it’s their job doing something like that.

But what Mark didn't expect was that, when arrived at the living room and saw the alarming amount of people who were fighting, he would be hit by _that_ scent.

_The best scent he had ever felt._

His eyes zoomed around desperately and it took a bit time for Mark to recognize Yuta, because he looked _completely_ different. His hair was slightly shorter than what Mark had seen in his dream and it was platinum blonde with lavender ends. Not to mention that he was wearing black clothes, leather pants included, much more silver chains than Mark could count and was looking like a fucking rockstar. 

But the happiness and relief to finally find his mate lasted only a few seconds because Mark soon realized that Yuta was involved in the fight and was pretty much going forward on an alpha twice his (and Mark’s) size.

Panicking and with his instincts kicking in to protect his mate, Mark rushed towards Yuta to grab him by the waist and basically yank the other away from the fight. 

"What the _fuck_ -" Yuta groaned, trashing on Mark’s arms as Mark literally lifted him from the ground to drag his mate away from the big Alpha. Everything happened very fast and in seconds Mark had Yuta away from the fight scene and let him down on the floor again, on the opposite side of the room. The fight only managed to get more intense by the noises Mark could hear, but he didn’t care. The couple of seconds that Mark held Yuta was enough to smell his scent again and fill his heart with that same feeling he felt six years ago, plus want, because now that he knew who Yuta was and that Yuta was _his_ , there was nothing he wanted more than to drown on that scent.

Yuta, on the other hand, probably had other ideas because the moment that Mark put him on the floor, he turned towards Mark and planted a very painful punch on Mark's face. 

" _Ow!_ " Mark exclaimed as soon as he was hit. "Shit, what was that for? I was trying to help you, damnit!" He complained out loud, touching his jaw to make sure everything was in place. 

"I don't need help from an Alpha! Especially a kid like you!" Yuta spat back and pushed Mark away, but Mark was faster and grabbed him by the arm, pulling him against him in a hug. 

That probably made it, because the moment that Yuta was close enough for Mark to embrace him, Mark noticed that he stopped on his tracks. "Please don't go back to the fight." Mark said, wrapping his free arm around Yuta's waist as he looked straight at Yuta's eyes. Yuta looked conflicted, both scared and confused at the same time and Mark realized that probably the same effect that Yuta's scent had on him, he most probably had on Yuta too. 

They stared at each other in silence for a couple of seconds. 

Behind them, the fighting sounds increased, but Mark blocked them away, too focused on staring at Yuta’s face. 

"Who are you?" Yuta asked after a couple of beats, jaw tensing. 

"Hi," Mark said, trying for a smile. "My name's Mark." Behind him, someone shouted and Mark heard a sound of a punch. Curses were being yelled. A chair flew in his peripheral vision. His jaw was hurting by the punch Yuta had thrown at him.

And Yuta looked _ethereal_ with this white hair.

For a second Mark didn't know what else to say, but then he remembered. He smiled widely, looked at Yuta straight in the eyes and said: "Do you know that we'll have a beautiful baby girl called Hana in the future?"

  
  
  
  


The end. 


End file.
